PM goes for something different
here, taking a break from out-and-out action movies and delivering a
courtroom drama inspired by the then-new show, Law & Order.

Joseph
Gainer (Estrada) is a high-powered Beverly Hills defense attorney who
has never lost a case. Constantly defending scumbags and releasing them
back out into society seems to be getting under his skin, however. Three
teenage psychopaths, led by Carl Sloan (Allan) - the other two being the
token “weak link” who has somewhat of a conscience about their evil
deeds, Alan (Dickey) and Carl’s right-hand man, Martin (Ganis) break
into a house and assault and rape Betty Truesky (Austin) and Doris
(Kimberly Spiess, better known to adult film fans as Carol Cummings).
They also attack another member of the family, a man named Bill Paxton!
(Verroca, sadly not
Bill Paxton). Gainer ends up as one of the lawyers defending the little
jerks, and the prosecutor is his former wife Marion (Kathrin Lautner
AKA Middleton). They still have a rapport, and issues of law and justice
are continually coming up. What will be the fate of Betty, Doris, Carl,
Martin, Alan, Joseph and Marion?

Like the
aforementioned Law & Order, PM and director Joseph Merhi do a “ripped
from the headlines” type of story about the incidents of “Wilding” in
the late 80’s/early 90’s. The title “Night of the Wilding” is somewhat
misleading for a courtroom movie like this. It’s not exactly in the same
league as Night of the Kickfighters (1988). Plus, is a home invasion /attack
really wilding? No one is sure exactly what “wilding” is, but we’re
pretty sure it’s out in public. Not in private. This movie brings up
questions like that. Can you “wild” in the privacy of your own home?

Estrada,
who
is perfect for a role like this, does reasonably well. Some of his
clothing, especially his out-of-the-courtroom casual wear, is quite
something. Sure, he has a mullet, but you know he’s one of the good guys
because the evildoers have longer, eviller mullets. It’s weird - at
times the film seems to go as close to an authentic legal drama as it
can - and other times what happens plot-wise is utterly absurd. Add
some odd clarinet music on the soundtrack, and Joey Travolta for some
reason, and the result is Night of the Wilding. For more Joey\Wilding action see: Wilding: The Children Of Violence (1991).

The obvious
highlight of the film occurs right towards the end and involves a
baseball field. That’s all we’ll say. Watch out for it.

While
not what you’d call a classic or a typical PM, we give them points for
not simply churning out another blow-em-up movie, but we’re not sure
this more dramatic approach reached its target audience. After all, PM
makes the BEST blow-em-ups, and
that’s what fans want. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Fans of TV-movie
style courtroom dramas probably never found this movie in the first
place, while PM aficionados (I assume they’re out there) more than
likely won’t be adding this to their top 10 list of favorite PM’s.

While
there is some clunkiness, especially in the acting department, Night of
the Wilding is really not that bad (especially considering some of the
unintentional laughs), but don’t go in expecting fireworks.

Estrada was also pretty good in Blind Sight, Do Or Die, Last Riders, Tuesday Never Comes, Guns, Twisted Justice, A Show Of Force, Caged Fury, Gang Justice, Alien Seed, Spirits, Divine Enforcer and Hour Of The Assassin.